1. Field of the Invention
The instant disclosure relates to an air-blown cleaning system for photomasks and a method thereof; in particular, to an air-blown cleaning system and a method for cleaning photomasks employed during the production of semiconductors.
2. Description of Related Art
During the production of semiconductors, the cleaning process is of high importance, in particular, the cleaning process for removing contaminants (organic substances, pollutants, chemical residue, etc.) on photomasks are essential for optimizing product quality and yield. If photomasks are not effectively and thoroughly cleaned, contaminants can significantly impact production capacity and yield.
In common semiconductor or photomask production, components usually undergo multiple wetting processes and subsequent processes which repeatedly interchange. During the interchanges, dopants or moisture tends to reside on the semiconductors or photomasks. In addition, dust and other contaminants are commonly generated during moving and storing. Contaminants such as dusts, dopants, and moisture must be thoroughly removed in order to prevent any effects on subsequent production processes. As a result, each step of photomasks cleaning must be performed with care and caution to minimize financial impact.
Furthermore, the most important factor in wafer yield depends on the cleanliness of photomasks. When particles are present on photomasks, wafers which are made with contaminated photomasks generally exhibit corresponding defects, thus making photomasks cleaning fairly important.
Concerning the conventional semiconductor cleaning system, a Taiwan patent number TW M432924, “an air knife device and module” provided by the inventor includes a plurality of ventilation tubing for increasing outlet pressure. With a plurality of air knife device and module, a relatively big surface area is purged through airflow thereby further saves cleaning time on semiconductor photomasks.
Based on the energy saving trends, the instant disclosure further improves energy savings and allowing operators to thoroughly remove contaminants to ensure cleanliness.
To address the above issues, the inventor strives via associated experience and research to present the instant disclosure, which can effectively improve the limitation described above.